Later accepting the five-second penalty for having run Leclerc out of road into Turn 1, Verstappen looked on course to easily break away and absorb the time added on during his first pitstop. Or, alternatively, a slightly dodgy set-up in a Southeast Asian city-state.
Verstappen can barely give away a victoryĮven with an up and down performance, nobody could stop Verstappen's victory paradeĪ Leclerc pass, a five-second penalty, and a clash with George Russell all had the potential to derail Verstappen's road to victory in Las Vegas, but nothing short of a global apocalypse could stop the irrepressible Dutchman's march to victory. Here are the 10 things we learned once the roulette wheel came to a stop in Las Vegas.ġ. But those who had put their chips on red were disappointed as Leclerc couldn't quite overcome the odds to beat Verstappen the house had won once again.Ī battle for the lead - and later, Leclerc's battle with Sergio Perez over second - underpinned a race where safety cars and tyre graining made the timing screens resemble a slot machine with frequent changes for position, as surprise qualifiers were dealt poor hands in the race and those who started towards the back could play their ace cards at the right time. Although Max Verstappen assumed his regular role on the top step of the podium, he had to fight to get there - and briefly looked fallible as Charles Leclerc challenged him all the way.
